


rebound

by prettywellfunded



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Dark, Breeding, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Extremely Dubious Consent, Forced Marriage, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Underage Sex, Unreliable Narrator, VERY UNDERAGE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-06-24 09:18:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19720738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettywellfunded/pseuds/prettywellfunded
Summary: After his wife dies, Tony takes a stab at drinking himself to death until Nick Fury brings him an orphaned omega to take care of Morgan.  Child care's not all his contract allows for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is going directly from my id into the archive, so it's possibly a mess. 
> 
> WARNING: Peter is 14. this is eeeasily viewable as rape. please don't make yourself uncomfortable.

Tony doesn't actually meet Peter sober until a month after he joins Tony's household.

The addition is Nick Fury's doing. Tony remembers the meeting but not many of the details – he was falling down drunk at the time.

The kid – Peter – cooks and cleans and looks after Morgan, so that Tony can shut the world off without starving to death. He makes it easy for Tony to check out.

Until one night, Morgan sneaks into the workshop and Tony wakes up to her too-close face. Then she rips his heart out: "Daddy, do you wish you died with Mommy?"

Tony cries like a baby, but after that, he gets sober.

*

Tony's never lived with an omega. Fucked, yes. Lived with, no. It's a responsibility he's actively dodged ever since his parents died. Pep was an alpha. He liked the balance between them. The equality. Memories of his parents' relationships left a bad taste in his mouth. So yeah, he happily fucked any omega who threw themselves at him. But he never intended to have custody of one. 

He managed to politely ignore his change in circumstances when he was only sober ten minutes a day. Now that he's off the booze and desperately trying to be present for his daughter, it's…harder.

Because Peter is _there_. He doesn't say much, at first, stuttering his way through every answer that Tony demands of him, but when he thinks it's only Morgan, he plays pretend and talks science and answers her questions with unending patience. 

Tony grateful that Morgan had Peter while Tony was…not well. But there's something else that stirs along with the gratitude, and it scares Tony a little. It feels dark and…bottomless. 

Tony reads their guardianship contract. It doesn't help.

*

One night, Tony invites Peter to join him for a drink after Morgan's asleep. He allows himself alcohol then – only then. Otherwise he can't fall asleep.

Peter drinks juice, while Tony sips his scotch. Kid looks like he could use a drink, though.

"Peter, I wanted to say thank you, for giving Morgan the stability she needed."

Peter ducks his head and blushes. "It was nothing, Mr. Stark. I'm just glad I could help."

Tony watches the kid while he formulates his next question. Peter's clearly aware of his scrutiny but he's still and wary, not looking at Tony directly. It reminds him of the way prey will freeze in a wildlife documentary. 

"The paperwork didn't specify why you were looking for a guardian, and if you or Fury mentioned it, I was too soused to remember."

This time, Peter _almost_ makes eye contact. Almost. "My parents were SHIELD agents. It's a dangerous job."

Tony waits a beat, but nothing additional is forthcoming. 

"I'm sorry for your loss."

The kid shrugs awkwardly. "It's been…it's been a little while. I didn't have any other family. Mr. Fury was nice enough to let me live at HQ for a while, until I came of age. And then…I think he sent me here because I know what it's like to lose a parent. I'm glad at least that it lets me help Morgan."

"You're really good with her," Tony notes.

Peter shrugs.

"Good at answering all her questions, too. I caught the tail end of a lesson on String Theory, the other day."

And now the kid is blushing again. "I went to Midtown Tech, before… I always liked science."

Tony wonders if Peter wished he'd stayed in school. If he wanted to go to college. Entirely plausible, if his parents were the type to send their omega child to a STEM-centric school. This is not a boy that was destined to be gifted as a helpmate at fourteen.

And yet here they are.

Peter holds still and stays quiet while Tony continues to watch him, but he doesn't offer anything more when Tony doesn't ask.

He looks a little relieved when Tony sends him to bed.

*

Tony watches. 

Peter's so young. All his edges are still soft. He smiles like sunshine and blushes at everything. Playing with Morgan seems to come naturally. He's not so removed from childhood, himself.

And yet he smells…ripe. Sweet and soft, but almost ready. Tony finds his attention lingering on the curve of Peter's neck, the deferential dip of his chin when they talk, his long legs. His ass.

Tony's acutely aware of what's happening, even though he always considered it a myth. There are so many stories about alphas that lose their mates. And then their minds. It's the official justification for contracts like Pete's. Part of it's 'think of the children,' yeah, sure. But there's also…this. Providing a soft, waiting target for the alpha's urge to claim a new mate. The mythos of a feral instinct always struck him as insulting. Completely absurd.

But Tony watches this kid, this uncertain child, and it makes his mouth water. _Already mine,_ some primordial voice murmurs. _He already belongs to me. It's all over but the breeding._

Tony restrains himself. Partly because the thought of disappointing Pepper still tears him in half. Partly because Morgan still needs the kid's attention on her. Partly because his instincts tell him 'not yet.'

But he watches, and the longer he does, the more he sees the nerves build in Peter's face.

The kid knows he's almost out of time.

*

When it starts, Tony doesn't make a decision. It just happens.

One day he's walking through the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, and he finds himself pressed to Peter's back, pinning him against the counter where he's making Morgan's lunch.

The boy freezes, then sets the knife he's holding down, slow and careful. Tony feels the kid's body tremble as he breathes him in.

Afraid or not, he smells receptive. The sweet note spikes when Tony molds himself to Peter's back. Buries his nose in Peter's neck. Peter's head tilts, just enough of an invitation to appease alpha instincts. Tony leans his weight on Peter further and sucks a mark onto thin, pale skin.

Peter isn't breathing.

"Daddy, I'm hungry," Morgan whines from the door, and the spell breaks.

Tony steps away and scoops Morgan up, scolding, "Well then why on earth were you bothering Peter?"

He carries her indignant denial into the living room, and Pete returns to chopping.

*

After that, it's like a dam has broken. Tony takes every chance he can to get a taste.

His favorite thing, for a while, is ambushing Peter from behind. When he's leaning over the washer, cooking at the stove. Something about the vulnerable nape of his neck and the tense draw of his shoulders whenever he hears Tony behind him makes his teeth itch. 

But then it's also so delightful to pull Peter into his lap. Feel the boy squirm til he brushes Tony's cock, and then he'll freeze, like Tony isn't bound to notice that he's hard unless Peter calls attention to it. He breathes, rapid and shallow, while Tony feels his thighs up with greedy hands, panting in Pete's ear nudging Peter's balls with the heel of his hand. Peter always slides away when Tony lets him go, careful not to let Tony see the erection that makes his exit awkward.

He corners Peter in the bathroom once, as Peter is washing his hands. Crowds in and locks the door, turning Peter's back to the counter and plastering himself against the kid's front. Using both hands on that perky ass to grind their cocks together through their clothes. Watching Peter close his eyes and flush, overwhelmed and embarrassed at Tony's boldness.

He pins Peter to the wall in the hallway outside Morgan's door, after bedtime, when Peter thinks that he's safe. Sucks his earlobe and palms the kid's cock in his hand, until Peter's whimpering and strung tight. Tony has to walk away, suddenly worried he's going to fuck Peter right there and wake his daughter up with the noise of it.

Peter watches for him all the time, now, hyperaware. Always checking Tony's location in the corner of his eye. Always pinking up when he catches him near. Always smelling just a little bit aroused, even though he holds his body like a hunted animal.

"I think Morgan's doing well enough for an overnight playdate, don't you?" Tony asks him one evening, and Peter stops breathing for a moment. Then he nods, and Tony knows he'll arrange it.

*

He doesn't fuck Peter in his bed. 

Tony doesn't go into the bedroom anymore. He sleeps anywhere and everywhere else, but not there.

So after Peter comes back from dropping Morgan with a friend, Tony follows the sound into the guest room next to Morgan's. Or, he supposes, now it's Peter's room. Tony hasn't entered it since Peter moved in, and he notices how generic it still is.

Peter stills when he sees Tony, expression naked with nerves. There might as well be a blinking sign that's saying 'I'm not ready.'

Tony isn't sure why that makes him want to pounce.

He doesn't. Instead, he sits at the small desk cluttered with ephemera and beckons Peter over. When Peter obeys, Tony pulls him in between his spread legs and strips him of his shirt.

He's never removed Peter's clothing before, and the kid is acutely uncomfortable for it, awkwardly crossing his arms across his chest with an expression that causes that yawning chasm to open in Tony's chest.

Their encounters have also been silent until now, but as Tony unpeels Peter's defensive arms away, he says, "I'm not going to hurt you, Pete."

"I know," Peter lies.

"You know this is why you were sent here," Tony says. He unzips the fly of Peter's pants.

"It doesn't…doesn't always happen," Peter says. His eyes are just a little bit glassy as Tony strips him completely bare.

Tony looks his fill and strokes his hands over soft skin. "Were you hoping it wouldn't?" 

Peter swallows loudly and shakes his head. Tony gets the feeling it's not actually an answer in the negative. It doesn't matter much, regardless.

Gently, he turns Peter around and coaxes him to bend over, cheek and chest on the messy desk.

The smell of his wet cunt smacks Tony across the face and he moans. Tony slips his hand into his own pants to ease the ache, clumsy with his non-dominant hand. He saves the right for spreading Peter's pussy and taking a good look. 

Fuck.

Tony gives his cock an apologetic squeeze and withdraws his hand. He needs it to soothe Peter's trembling while he presses two fingers inside. It's so wet. He's able to slide a third finger inside right away.

"Jesus, sweetheart, you're so ready for me." He withdraws his fingers and licks Peter's hole, just once, before standing up and pulling Peter upright. "Your first time should be in a bed," he explains when Peter's confused. 

Tony spreads Peter out on his stomach, pillow under his hips, legs splayed out to leave space for him. Peter's breathing fast as Tony climbs into place.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Alpha," Tony corrects. It's a formality that's never appealed, but right now, as he drives himself forward into Peter's body, hearing the title in Peter's high, trembling voice makes Tony's eyes roll back.

"You're okay, sweetheart," Tony breathes, and starts fucking Peter far too soon. The sounds that he's punching out of the kid seem too hurt to actually be lustful, but too lustful to actually be hurt. 

Peter's cunt is literally dripping for him. 

"Baby. How does that feel, huh?"

"Nnggghhh."

Tony chuckles, spreading himself on top of Peter's body and using his entire weight to drive the short, shallow thrusts. He just wants to knot this kid after months of foreplay.

He sets his teeth against Peter's throat, feeling the high-pitched whine as much as he hears it. That gorgeous pussy is squeezing him on every grind, practically begging for Tony to tie it.

"Fuck, baby, here it comes – "

Peter panics a little in the clutch, and Tony has to pin him down and hold him still as he locks himself inside. Once it's done, Pete subsides with little shuddering breaths and Tony eases his grip. His brain floods with endorphins as plants his seed in a fertile place, and it makes him a little vicious, a little single-minded, as he marked up Peter's neck. 

He mauls the flesh for quiet a while before he gets down to business – biting bruises into Peter's throat and shaking his head, sucking tender skin and riding Peter's ass, rough. He realizes he's growling only when Peter starts to placate him with pleading little sounds.

By the time he sinks his teeth in sharp enough to break the skin, Peter's limp and spent underneath him.

Tony falls asleep while holding Peter down, long before his knot begins to shrink.


	2. Chapter 2

When Tony wakes up, Peter has squirmed out from under him and left the room.

A quick glance at the clock tells Tony it's early yet – 9pm. He tugs at his half-hard dick and takes stock.

He feels…better. Christ, no wonder there's a system for this. Tony feels like he's white-knuckled his way through the last three months, and now he feels…settled. Like he can see a future. He's not sure how he'll explain it all to Morgan, who still cries herself to sleep at least one night out of three, but that's tomorrow's problem. 

Or not. It can wait. They can be discreet, give her more time. 

She already loves Peter.

Tony stretches, then gets out of bed to look for the boy. He doesn't bother with getting dressed, though Pete's clothes are missing from the floor.

He finds the kid in the living room – Peter's head jerks up and around as soon as he hears him. His eyes drop immediately to where Tony is stroking his cock, and then dart away. He's cherry red. 

Tony chuckles, then throws himself on the sofa and hauls Peter into his lap. The kid smells like sex, like Tony's jizz probably leaking into his underwear, and Tony nuzzles under Peter's ear.

"How do you feel, Pete?"

"Good," Peter says, eyes fixed on the tv. It's nothing interesting.

Tony finds the remote and turns it off.

Peter's tense as Tony starts to fidget with his fly, teasing. The kid's breath goes uneven and he gets a little twitchy. Tony feels his chest rumble, and Peter shudders all over.

Something occurs to him. "Did you get off, sweetheart? Earlier?"

Peter shrugs, cheeks pink, trying desperately not to rub his crotch into Tony's hand. 

Well that explains the continuing shyness. Tony left the poor kid hanging. That's just rude.

Tony urges Peter up on his feet. "Baby. Take off your clothes." Peter swallows thickly and hesitates, staring at Tony's knees and blinking rapidly. "Peter. _Take off your clothes_."

Peter's hands shake a little as he pulls his shirt off first, and then his pants. Tony doesn't reach for him immediately this time, doesn't soothe with words and stroking hands. He just looks the boy over while stroking his own cock. It's a mildly vindictive impulse – corrective. Peter's pretty and pink by the time Tony hauls him close, astride his lap.

"Kneel up, sweetheart."

Peter's close enough on his knees that Tony doesn't need to lean far to press a kiss to his cock. Peter clutches at his shoulders, and Tony smiles. It's a cute little thing – Tony forgot how small omegas are. When Tony wraps his hand around it, he can barely see the head peaking out of his fist. 

"Hunh – " Peter's whole body vibrates, eyelashes fluttering against his dusty pink cheeks as Tony massages his dick. He's so pretty.

"That feel good, baby?" Peter's lip trembles but he doesn't speak. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Last time, I was selfish. I'll do better."

A desperate, disbelieving sound punches out of Peter's lungs as Tony slurps his cock down. Peter's nails dig into Tony's skin – Tony groans a little and one of Peter's hands flies frantically into his hair.

Peter whimpers and starts to fuck Tony's face, utterly forgetting his place in the order of things. Tony hums around his little cock and smiles. It's not big enough to choke on, so he doesn't really mind it.

He actually finds it cute. That omegas haven't lost that instinct to evolution. Dick way too tiny to satisfy anyone with penetration. Still, they retain the urge to try.

Tony slides his fingers into Peter's wet, messy cunt – a reminder. Peter's cries go up two octaves.

Two fists are tugging at his hair as Tony massages the boy from the inside; it's a matter of minutes before Peter comes in Tony's mouth. 

It's watery and modest in volume. Tony has no trouble swallowing it down.

Peter collapses limp into Tony's arms, nuzzling at his alpha's throat, and Tony has to laugh as he soothes the kid down. He's always found omegas to be easy in this way – a half-decent orgasm, and they're putty in your hands. 

It's baffling why a whole alpha movement would deny themselves this tool. It's not even hard to get them off.

Tony waits patiently for Peter's breath to even out. Then he palms Peter's ass with hand and slips his cock inside with the other. Peter gasps and clenches down before Tony can even slide in half his length. 

Tony turns and sets his teeth on Peter's claim mark, worrying until he tastes copper. Peter relaxes with a plaintive little sound.

"There's my good boy," Tony soothes. He hugs Peter tight as he thrusts in and out of his cunt. The act unlocks something deep inside his hindbrain and he picks up his pace. 

He varies his angle til he hears a little "hah," and then he zeroes in, gripping Peter's hair and pulling him away from Tony's throat so he can see his omega's face.

He looks half-pained and half-pleasured. The little huffs of air blend into one long greedy sound over the rapid smack of Tony's hips against his soaking-wet pussy. The sound starts to climb and Peter's entire face tenses, eyes squeezing shut as Tony feels his cunt convulse around his cock.

Tony slams home and pins Peter's hips down as his knot grows almost painfully fast, hastened by the stimulation. He groans as he starts to come. All his muscles go weak except his hips, which continue to desperately churn inside.

After a second, Pete starts to tug compulsively against the tie, breath wet and shaky as he confirms that he's caught. Every little jerk of his hips sets off a stronger pulse of Tony's balls and he moans, deep and heartfelt. 

"Fuck. You want Alpha to fill you up, sweetheart?" With effort, Tony cracks his eyes open. He reaches up to catch the tear sliding down his omega's cheek. Peter's eyes are wet when they flutter open. "Want me to breed you up real good, huh?"

Peter's breath hitches and his eyes go wide – Tony has to stop him from pulling at the knot just a little too hard. 

"Gentle – not so hard." Tony presses his thumb against his bite and it starts to bleed again, sluggishly. Peter whines deep in his throat, supplicant. His hips return to a gentle milking motion. "There. Good boy, I've got you. We're not in a rush. Though if every mounting goes as well as this, we'll get you pregnant soon."

Tony barely catches the fear on Peter's face before it's tucked against his neck. "P-pregnant?"

He rubs Peter's back tenderly, kissing his shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, honey. You'll have the best doctors. I'm gonna spoil you rotten, and Morgan, she'll be such a good big sister, won't she? We'll take such good care of you, sweetheart."

Peter's breath goes ragged. A few seconds later, there's the unmistakable sound of sobbing against Tony's shoulder.

Tony feels a little twinge of panic. 

"Hey, hey hey." He has a flash of his mother – his brilliant, amazing mother – begging for permission to study alongside Tony. "Hey, that goes for whatever you want, angel. We'll get you a tutor, just like Morgan. You can keep up your studies. You can even have your own lab. I want you to be happy."

Peter's crying subsides, eventually. He mumbles something incoherent as he comforts himself with Tony's scent. Tony strokes his hair, heart aching.

"I didn't catch that, baby. Can you say it again?"

"I miss my mom," Tony manages to make out.

He squeezes Peter tight. "Was she your alpha, honey?"

Peter nods against Tony's throat, breathing shaky. 

Tony rubs Peter's back and kisses his ear. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. You have me now, alright? I'll give you everything. Anything you want."

Peter hiccups a sound that either sobbing or laughter, but then he quiets, and his breath evens out.

Tony promises himself that Peter will want for nothing. He's not his dad. He'll be a good alpha to him.

When Tony's knot finally slips loose, he carries the kid to bed and curls around him like a shield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …I want to draw attention to the unreliable narrator tag, haha. Tony's truth is a little distorted, though he…means well? I guess? Lol
> 
> I also want to say, I have no fucking ambitions for this going anywhere. I'll probably just keep writing angsty breeding porn until I get tired of it and then I'll stop. I definitely have no intention of introducing real plot, or seeing a pregnancy through. I just want to wallow in malignant-grief horny-alpha Tony for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> life is not terribly conducive to creative writing at the moment - it's due to good things, just super inconvenient for the production of porn, lol. I promise I haven't forgotten about any of my projects.

Tony wakes up in the weak morning light, wrapped around a sweet little omega that smells like his. He's hard, naturally – those being the circumstances – and when he shifts his hips, the tip of his dick encounters warm, wet perfection.

He breathes against Peter's skin and pushes inside.

The boy makes a discontent sound but remains lax in his arms, so Tony decides to avoid jarring him awake. He buries himself to the root and gingerly pumps his knot full. 

A deep satisfaction floods over his brain as his balls start to empty, and he hums, content.

The funny thing is that Tony's never been obsessed with breeding like other alphas. Rarely ever gave it a thought. For years, it was a contingency he tried to avoid, and then with Pepper…they talked about kids, but didn't really _try_. Just let nature take its course, and they were lucky. 

He's not sure if the change is due to grief, or to the access to a young, fertile omega. His casual omega partners were always older, on birth control, or both. They never…they never smelled… Tony buries nose against Peter. He never knew a person could smell _fecund_. But Christ, Peter does.

It triggers this itch under Tony's skin. Cover him, mount him, fill him. Then do it again. He was dreaming about it before he woke up.

The dream crystallizes. He was giving chase. In his dream, Peter wasn't delivered on a silver platter by Fury. Tony wasn't grieving. Tony just saw him – scented him – in a crowd. He tracked Peter down and took him.

Tony pants against Peter's neck, rocking his knot in that tight cunt.

He wasn't careful. In the dream. Considerate enough to yank the boy into an alley for a modicum of privacy. But after that, it happened quick – he pinned the boy in place, shoved his jeans down past his ass and freed his own cock, not even checking if the kid was ready before he plunged inside. 

But he was. Oh, he was. Creamy for Tony. Wet and welcoming. Tony clutched him by the throat and fucked him hard while the little slut keened. He didn't tremble or weep. He begged…begged for Tony's knot. Begged for Tony to plant his seed. Begged for Tony to knock him up.

Peter jolts awake at Tony's feral growling. Tony chokes off the sound now that he's aware that he's making it. He holds Peter close and soothes him cautiously. 

And swallows down the promises that want to well up: he'll make Peter round and fat and happy, he'll provide, he'll plant baby after baby inside his cute little belly. 

Peter doesn't ready to hear that kind of thing. Tony can keep it to himself. For now.

*

Morgan is home by mid-morning, brought home by her best friend's omega. Peter smiles and teases and hugs her, but he moves slow and careful.

The poor thing is probably sore.

Tony lingers, watching them together. It's only been a handful of hours, but he's eager to mount again. Christ, it's distracting. He stares at Peter's ass, resenting the shower Peter took before Morgan arrived. 

Morgan's a little cranky by afternoon, so Tony insists that she nap. Too much excitement and too little sleep. Tony watches from the doorway as Peter coaxes his baby girl into bed and soothes her to sleep. Then he grabs Peter's wrist and leads him next door.

The boy still needs prompting to take his clothes off, but he's quicker now. Tony strips himself down impatiently and pushes Peter onto the bed, belly up, before folding him in half. He looks vulnerable as Tony looms. 

Tony slaps his cock against the sloppy mess that belies Peter's nerves. There's something ravenous and demanding that claws at his chest. 

"Ask for it."

Peter's eyes are big and heartbreaking, but his little cock is hard and his cunt drips all over the head of Tony's dick. At least he doesn't play dumb. "Please, Mr. Stark…"

"Alpha," Tony corrects impatiently. 

"Please, Alpha," Peter begins. And then he falters.

Tony reminds himself not to push too hard. The boy's skittish. "Ask me to make you come."

"Please, Alpha," his smart boy says. "Please make me come."

"Always, sweetheart."

Tony presses inside, watching the overwhelmed look on Peter's face as he's split open. Tony sits back on his heels and pulls Peter's hips up into his lap. The next thrust sends Tony's cock sliding over Peter's prostate and he yelps.

Tony covers the boy's mouth. "Morgan's next door," he reminds Peter, and Peter blushes scarlet.

It's a pleasure, after that, to watch Peter struggle against making noise. This position suits the boy, and right now, it's working for Tony as well. He fucks the kid nice and easy, stroking his little cock and watching the flush of restrained pleasure creep down his chest. 

He lets it build slowly til Peter arches with a soft sound and comes around his dick. After that Tony folds forward again, pulling Peter's legs over his shoulders and bracing against the bed so he can pound him through it, then knot up. 

Tony lets himself groan just a little too loud after he's locked up inside. 

*

Morgan asks, later, about the noise she heard. Tony has to make up a ridiculous lie about helping Peter move his bed. Which they did, for the record. A few inches to the left. 

It's difficult, in the coming days. Getting his fill of Peter when Morgan is home.

Tony manages, sure. In the laundry room while she watches cartoons. In the bathroom with the door locked while she naps. On the sofa while she's playing with a friend at the park.

It's just not enough. He wants Peter five times a day. He's lucky if he manages two. And Morgan's getting suspicious, asking about noises and smells and why they go to the bathroom together.

Something has to be done.

*

Tony gifts his daughter with a new story book on a Tuesday. 

It took some searching to find the right one. So many kids' books send a particular message about the addition of an omega that Tony doesn't want to Morgan to receive. 

It's work to find a book that strikes the right balance: explaining the family dynamic without portraying o's like empty-headed pets or baby-baking machines.

He's pleased when he finds what he's looking for.

Ironically enough, it's old – created in the 1940s. Never published, though. He had a glimmer of memory and dug it out of Howard's things. It was hand-drawn by a friend of Howard's, an alpha with a knack for art who wanted to share his own family's story with his kids. 

And it's perfect.

He has it printed and bound just for Morgan. But he's looking into publishing and marketing it for the masses. 

They curl up in an armchair, Tony and Morgan, and he reads her the story. Peter's cleaning up the living room around them, and Tony catches a worried frown at the start.

Tony understands why. 

The book begins with an alpha couple. The male is smart and brave. The female, strong and fierce. They're a team. They're equals in everything – from war to spycraft to the birth of their little girl.

But then the woman dies, and the man is so sad. He loves his little girl but he misses his mate. He's lost on his own.

Enter an omega.

"Bucky's a silly name," Morgan interrupts. Her eyes are a little glassy, but she's stubbornly refusing to cry. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Peter has gone very still. 

Tony continues.

Bucky takes care of the baby, who loves him right away. Seeing them together thaws the ice around the alpha's heart. Bucky and the alpha fall in love. Bucky isn't like the mom and can't replace her. The mom was a partner; Bucky's something else. Not the dad's equal, but not his inferior, not completely. Bucky is someone who needs to be loved and cherished and cared for.

In return, he gives the little girl a beautiful baby brother.

Never let it be said Tony's daughter isn't quick on the uptake. Tony's barely closed the book when Morgan says, "Is Peter giving us a baby?"

Tony's pleased to note she sounds excited and scandalized, but not even the tiniest bit upset. 

_Peter_ is white as a sheet. But Tony expected as much, given his hangups.

"Would you like Peter to give us a baby?" Tony asks her.

"Yes! Chelsea has a little sister and it's awesome."

Tony grins. God, he loves her so much. "Then he and I will see what we can do."

"I love Peter," Morgan says. "He's staying forever? Just like Bucky?"

Tony looks at Peter, whose expression is torn. Tony has a hunch that Morgan's enthusiasm will put all his hangups to rest. "I think he is, sweet."

"Good." A little hand grabs Tony's chin, demanding his attention. "Daddy?"

"Yes, dear?"

"How soon can we get the baby?"

What a convenient transition. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about that. Peter and I have to make the baby together, just like Mommy and I made you."

Morgan's little brow furrows. "Well hurry up!"

Tony huffs a laugh. Christ, she's going to be aggressive once her knot pops. "I'm trying, baby, but I need your help."

"I'm good at helping!" 

Tony tucks her hair behind her ear, heart soft. "I know you are, sweet. That's why I know I can count on you. See, Peter and I need some grownup time to work on that. We might need it a lot for a while. Can you be a big girl and amuse yourself in your room when I ask?"

Morgan scrambles off Tony's lap, almost kneeing his babymakers in the process. 

Then she's running like hell, disappearing around into the hallway. 

Tony frowns, uncertain what she's doing. "Sweetheart, where are you going?"

For such a little thing, she can bellow like a bull when she's motivated. He can hear her yell from her bedroom: "Start NOW, Daddy, start making the baby!"

Her door slams. 

Tony turns to Peter, noting the way he turns his face away to wipe his eyes. "We can't disappoint her, can we, sweetheart?"

Tony holds his hand out, and Peter comes.


End file.
